LAS VEGAS (AP) — Conservationists say they'll fight a federal government proposal to allow oil and gas drilling in remote northeast Nevada, including open-range that's home to a dwindling species of ground-dwelling bird.

A Center for Biological Diversity official threatened lawsuits after the U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Thursday opened a one-month comment period on plans to lease eight parcels totaling about 25 square miles west of Ely in White Pine County.

Center executive Kierán Suckling says if the bureau goes forward with its plan, it will end up in court.

The government acknowledges the patchwork of parcels includes habitat for the imperiled greater sage grouse.

It calls plans to lease land in the West for drilling part of the Trump administration effort to promote American energy independence.

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